Téa stepped up to them, “I’m glad you made it.”
Michael couldn’t believe this was his Téa. Instead of her carefree low-rider jeans and midriff-baring shirts, she was dressed in all-black wearing some kind of military pants and jacket with the MEGA-AX1 logo on it. She wore a military hat with her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail just like Jessie. She was also wearing her weapons on the outside of her uniform. Her carefree persona had been replaced with a woman who looked like she could take care of business.
“We need to talk.”
“I know, but not here. Let me take you to where you’ll be staying first. After you’re settled and we’re in private, I’ll answer all of your questions.”
They followed Téa past the throngs of people. As she took them to their quarters they entered the wing where the guards were stationed. Each one stood at attention when Téa walked past. She was their superior. This was all so surreal for Michael and Brian.
Finally, they’d made it to where Brian and Brigitte would be staying. Brian had so many questions, first and foremost where was Jessie? Téa promised she’d answer their questions once they were settled. He would have to wait just a little while longer.
“This is where you’ll be staying. Your access and keycards are on the coffee table. You’ll have the freedom to explore the compound with those cards. However, please wait until I come back before you begin to explore.”
Brian and Brigitte nodded. His glare unlike Michaels was cold with suppressed fury. They went inside and closed the door behind them.
They walked several yards from Brian’s room to Téa’s suite. She opened the door and Michael walked ahead of her into the room. The rooms seemed to be outfitted with the simple necessities. There was a king-sized bed, armoire, sofa, and coffee table.
He dropped his bags right where he stood. His back was still to her, “What can you possibly say to me to make this okay?”
“I…don’t…know, but I’m going to try because I love you.”
Michael closed his eyes. It hurt to hear her says those words to him. He turned around, his eyes hot with anger, “How could you possibly love me? Look at you? You’re a whole other person that I don’t even know!”
“I wanted to tell you so many times.”
“But…you didn’t. You had over a year’s worth of chances to tell me. From the looks of things, you live a pretty dangerous life. Téa, I run a Hollywood talent agency and…you…I don’t even know what you do!”
“I’m the technology guru for this outfit. When I said I handled the communication systems security that wasn’t false, it just wasn’t the whole truth. I’m also a member of an elite Black-Ops team, Mega-AX1. We work mainly for a secret world organization responsible for making sure we don’t destroy ourselves.”
Michael looked at her like she’d grown a third head. “You let me put my family in danger, and I didn’t have a say as to whether I wanted any part of it. Can you imagine the guilt that I feel? I introduced all of this to Brian!”
“I know and I’m sorry!”
“Téa, I was prepared to make you my wife? Hell, is your name even really Téa Carlisle?”
“It is now.”
Michael sat down on the bed, “Unbelievable.”
Téa sat down next to him, “Believe it or not I was going to tell you everything this weekend and then all hell broke loose. Michael, I love you. I would never have married you without telling you everything.”
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As furious as he was with Téa he still loved her. “Why are we here?”
“You’re here because we weren’t able to stop the world from going to hell.”
Somebody knocked on her door. Téa got up to open it. It was Max. She threw her arms around him, “Oh thank god you made it.”
Michael got up and walked over toward them. As mad as he was with Téa he sure as hell didn’t want to see her wrapping her arms around another man. “I sure hope that’s your brother.”
Max was still hugging Téa and looked up to see a jealous-looking Michael. He released Téa and smiled at Michael. “I’m the closest thing to it.” Max held out his hand, “And…you are Michael, the fiancé. I’ve heard a lot about you. Sorry we’re meeting like this.”
Michael shook his hand as Téa closed the door, “Well, I’m sorry I can’t say I’ve heard anything about you.”
Max understood his frustration and didn’t take his comment personally. Téa ignored his remark.
Max turned back to Téa, “Have you heard from Jessie? Is she close?”
Téa shook her head no. “I haven’t heard from her and I can’t see her. She jammed the amulet; although, they are still tracking the plane. The fireworks are set to possibly start in a couple of hours, and she is still at least three hours out.”
The tension was so thick Michael could cut it, “Is Jessie in danger?”
Téa’s eyes welled up with tears and she had to clear her throat, “Yes.”
“Okay can someone finally tell me what…is…going…on? This feels bigger than some thug wanting to kill us.”
“It’ll probably be easier if I told you, Brian, and Brigitte all together.” Téa asked one of the guards outside the door if they could go get them.
Chapter 21
Everyone was assembled in Téa’s suite. She’d introduced Max to Brian and Brigitte. Téa still couldn’t understand what Brian saw in Brigitte; she seemed so fragile.
When Jessie wasn’t available Max was in command. She gave him the floor to explain.
“I hate to have to meet you under these conditions and then have to be the bearer of this type of news. If Téa hasn’t explained to you already, we are a special team of Black-Ops operatives. We’re known as Mega-AX1. Our job is to prevent catastrophes from destroying our way of living from rogue nations or people.
This is Jessie’s operation, but most of our missions come from an organization called the Council. It’s a group of people who live in the shadows. They watch, they listen, and they take action when necessary. MEGA-AX1 is a part of the muscle. I’m Jessie’s second-in-command and Téa is the head of technology.”
Max tried to add some levity to an extremely tense situation. “Don’t let Téa’s smile fool you…she can build a supercomputer out of toothpicks and a piece of gum and she can physically take you down just as easily.” The humor fell flat. Everyone was tense.
“Anyway, we are here today because there is a threat that’s so big we expect it to destroy two-thirds of the world as we know it in possibly less than two hours. We are not sure that we are safe here, but we have more of a chance of surviving in this bunker than we do out there.”
Brian couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This whole situation would make for a great script if it weren’t happening in real life. “If this ‘Council’ is the eyes and ears, how the hell could they have missed something so big? And if this is Jessie’s operation, where is she?”
Téa noticed Brigitte move into Brian’s arms when he mentioned Jessie. As much as she felt there was something strong between Brian and Jessie, she could also no longer ignore that Brian must really have strong feelings for Brigitte to bring her here.
“Those are very good questions. My guess is that no matter how hard you try, you can’t always see and hear everything. For example, we’ve been here in Phoenix for nine years and no one would ever know we do more than just clean up system viruses. And Jessie…” his voice trailed off slightly, “….she’s not here because she’s out doing what she always does, trying to save the world. We’re all praying that she makes it back before the process starts.”
Brian released Brigitte. His response didn’t go unnoticed by her. “What do you mean you hope she makes it back in time?”
Michael knew, even if Brian didn’t, that he was in love with Jessie. He touched his brother’s shoulder to offer comfort. “She’s on a plane on her way back here. But contingencies are being made because she’s not scheduled to be back before everything is set to happen.”
The color drained from Brian’s face and the anger immediately dissipated. “She knew she might get caught out there in whatever the hell this is when she called me? I need to talk to her. Can someone get me through to her?”
Téa’s throat was bulging with a lump of emotion, “Once she got confirmation that we were all here, she jammed all communications to her. The only thing we can do is track her plane. I can’t see her or talk to her either, Brian.”
The only thing any of them could do now was hope and pray that she made it back safely.
*****
Jessie was monitoring what was happening on the ground from the plane. She felt so helpless. None of the satellite images had shown any unusual disturbances or weather patterns. Maybe Kyoshe was wrong. Everybody could be wrong at least once…just as the words left Jessie’s lips her monitors started going haywire. The readings that it was giving over Europe was impossible! It had begun.
The pilot came on over the intercom, “Jessie, my instruments are going haywire, I need you up here to help me co-pilot. I’m going to have to fly this bird using blind skill.”
The plane started to shake uncontrollably.
Chapter 22
Everyone had gone back to their own rooms. Téa and Michael were alone lying in bed, just holding each other. “Téa, I’m still so pissed at you that I could choke you. But if these are my last moments alive…I wouldn’t want to spend them with anyone else.”
Téa reached up and cupped his face looking deeply into his eyes. She gently kissed him on the lips, “I love you, too.”
A piercing buzzing sound snatched them out of their kiss. “It’s the alarm. Oh my god, it’s starting. I’ve got to go.”
Michael’s protective instincts kicked in, “Where are you going?”
“As much as I’d love to stay here with you, duty calls. My team needs me in the control room.” Téa hopped off of the bed, put on her combat boots, grabbed her tactical gear, and ran out of the door.”
The instructions coming through the intercom was asking everyone to return to their rooms. But, Michael wanted to be with Brian. Just as he was about to find his brother, Brian walked into Michael’s room with Brigitte.
Brian saw Téa running down the hall. He tried to catch her to see if they’d heard anything from Jessie, but she was too fast for him. The alarm was so loud they had to yell over it, “Do you know if they’ve heard anything about Jessie!”
“Not yet.”
Brian raked his hands through his hair, “I can’t sit here and wait. I’ve got to find out what’s going on. Do you know where Téa went?”
Michael yelled over the alarm, “She said something about the control room.” Brian looked desperate and he understood, “I’ll take care of Brigitte while you find out what’s going on.”
Brigitte looked from brother to brother, “Wait…no I want to go with you Brian!”
It was too late. Brian had already left to find that room.
*****
It was all hands on deck in the control room. Only the elite members were allowed there. And it was controlled chaos; however, the MEGA-AX1 team was in place, Max, Téa, Tony, Gray, and Jake. Although Jessie wasn’t there, Max had left her chair empty. He would not sit in it as long as there was a possibility she was still alive.
Instead, he stood in the center of the room where he could see what was going on no matter where he turned.
Téa and Jake had the monitors up and running. Jessie had uploaded them the video and report so that they had an idea of what the coming attack would look like. They each had one of the six quadrants on the monitors.
Tony and Gray were monitoring the compound from the outside. Making sure they were ready for anything that might come their way.
There was a commotion outside the door. Somehow, Brian had managed to find the control room and was trying to get inside.
Against his better judgment Max signaled to the guards to let him inside.
Just as he was asking Téa about Jessie, “When was the last time we got anything from Jessie’s plane?”
“Nothing from her in the last half hour. I’m still trying to get eyes on it from the satellite.”
Jake bellowed, “Oh…shit. Monitor three right over France!”
Everyone turned to look at monitor three. It was unbelievable. It was like a ball of fire was churning through the land like a tornado but it was everywhere all at once. It engulfed everything it came into contact with. If you ever had an image of hell, this was it on earth.
Gray was incredulous just like everyone else, “My god. No one who is above ground will survive that.”
Tony responded to him, “Hell, we don’t know if anyone who is below ground will survive it either.”
Max started calling out orders, “Tony and Gray seal the compound right now!”
Téa pleaded, “Can’t we give just a few more minutes?”
Tony and Gray waited for Max’s response…hoping against hope.
“You don’t think I want to wait? To give Jessie more time…I understand what this means but we can’t take the risk. I’m responsible for all the lives down here. We’ve got to seal the compound right now.”
Tony and Gray’s fingers started moving on their keypads. They needed to type in the codes at the same time.
“Alpha”
“Alpha”
“One”